Eric,
That's sort of a regional question.
In Chicago it's hard to find consultants for less then $ 100/hr - typically
they tend to run $ 125/hr +++.
In Rockford which is 1.5 hrs from down town Chicago and approx 150,000
people, the going rate for "Local" consultants is about $ 80-85/hr.
However, these numbers change very fast depending on the "Type" of
consultant.
The list of things I consider in your situation are:
* Are there any "Local" consultants available? If so, do they only bill
onsite hrs? An out of town consultant may want to charge you for air fair,
hotels, cars, and food. If you can find someone local the savings can be
significant. Are there any companies in your area that have recently
redesigned their warehouses? Can you hire their project leader/warehouse
manager on Saturdays to help you? Call the best companies in your area and
talk to their top people. Would they be willing to let you come in and
"Benchmark" their company?
* If you are going to hire a consultant - DO REFERENCE CHECKS. And not
just on the company - check out the person that will be walking in your
front door. Many consulting companies bring in high powered sales people to
get the contract from you only to send in junior people to do the work.
And, no matter how good the company is, the field consultants can very
greatly in ability not to mention that you and your company may not 'Click'
with every consultant.
* Have the consulting company work up a proposal for you. They should be
able to break down the project into phases and give fairly well established
estimates on how many hours it will take for each phase. You may want to
consider either paying them a set fee for each phase or you may want to
negotiate different rates if they go over estimate. As in, you'll agree to
pay $ 115/hr up to the estimate, but if they go over the estimate the rate
drops to $ 80/hr.
* Seriously consider breaking down the project into the smallest phases you
can. A phase may be 1 day to 1 week in length. Try not to go any longer.
Pay the consultant when they finish each piece. There are two reasons for
this approach. One, you want to try to avoid a run away project where the
consultants bleed you to death and two, you want management to clearly see
that they are getting what they paid for. If you find out half way through
the project that the consultant isn't delivering - fire them and find
someone else. Don't let the project get out of hand.
I had a nice chat with an Anderson consultant about 10 years ago where he
explained many of the above points to me. At that time Anderson consulting
would go into a company with a senior consultant to "Get" the job. Then
send in a junior partner ( the guy I was talking to ) to manage the project.
Working for him were 5 "Kids" that --just-- graduated from school who
actually did the work. His instructions were to stretch the project as long
as possible and get as MANY billable hours as he could. In fact, his bonus
was determined by how many billable hours he "Generated" per quarter.
Needless to say, the conversation turned me into a bit of a cynic.
Ok, I'm ranting ... Here's the quick answer to your question: Billable
rates per hour are the LAST thing you should be worrying about.
:-)
Todd Anderson
-----Original Message-----
From: virago1100r [mailto:
e.tolliver@...]
Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 8:19 AM
To:
vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] (OT) Consulting fees
We are currently looking for a cunsulting group to advise us on
warehouse setup and orginization. We are now getting the bids back
and were wondering what others might have payed for such a Service.
Eric Tolliver
IT Manager
Continental Industries Inc.
e.tolliver@...
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